New Zealand: Kirtan at the Beach

We spent the last weeks of 2012 in New Zealand at the Golden Moon and KuliMela festivals where we had been invited to come and play Kirtan. The experience of chanting no matter where you are in the world was more or less the same, joyful smiles and heartfelt singing. Later on in the trip we were invited to play at the first ever Soul Dance festival held in Raglan, a beach town on the west part of New Zealand. Soul Dance was the very first festival of its kind in New Zealand. Many different groups were invited to come and lead chants in their very own style making it a wonderful gathering showing unity in diversity. Here is a clipping from a local newspaper article covering the event. (Click on image for a larger size)